January 25, 2005
A BIG RISE IN INTEREST RATES COULD COST YOU A BUNDLE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amTHAT ticking noise I mentioned in my first column of 2005 did turn out to be the sound of time running out for the stock market rally. But the real...
JERRY MOVING FIRM TO FLATIRON; DELLA FEMINA MOVING FIRM DOWNTOWN
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amLEGENDARY ad man Jerry Della Femina is moving his hot agency downtown, leaving behind the buttoned-down former Daily News building at 220 E. 42nd St. for the more creative Flatiron...
FEDS EYE TIMES DEAL IN BOSTON
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe New York Times is under investigation by the Justice Department for allegedly bullying a Boston tabloid to wrest away its advertising. The probe involves the Times' widening reach into...
CARLSBERG SHOWS 'PASSPORT' FOR SALES
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThere is a way to say "cheers" in most every language. That helps to explain the thinking behind a new marketing campaign for Carlsberg, which is targeting a more worldly...
CRYBABY CON MAN - ELGINDY GUILTY OF STOCK FRAUD WITH FBI FILES
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amAn Internet stock adviser sobbed uncontrollably as a federal jury convicted him and a former FBI agent of racketeering charges for using secret law enforcement information to manipulate the market....
VERSACE KIN IN VIOLATION
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amA federal judge slammed a renegade member of the Versace family over charges he's illegally using the Italian fashion house's trademarked name for his own products. Manhattan District Judge Peter...
GRUBMAN MAY TAKE THE STAND AGAINST BERNIE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amDisgraced telecom analyst Jack Grubman may be called as a witness in the $11 billion fraud trial of former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers. Grubman, a major WorldCom cheerleader until the...
CROOKED BOOKS - SEC HITS EX-PENTHOUSE OWNERS IN $1M FRAUD
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe one-time owners of Penthouse magazine cooked the books and defrauded investors by falsely booking up to $1 million in phantom revenue in 2003, according to charges leveled yesterday by...
OIL HEADS BACK UP TO $50
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amOil appears headed back to the economy-wrecking $50-a-barrel mark, where analysts believe it could stick for a while. Crude settled here to just under $49 yesterday but is expected to...
GOOGLE MULLS MOVE INTO 'NET PHONE SVC.
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe tech world was abuzz yesterday after word spread that Google Inc. might soon offer free Internet-based phone service. The wild speculation centered around a Google "help wanted" ad the...
COMIC GUY NAMED
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amTHE elusive real name of Comic Book Guy will finally be revealed in "Simpsons" episode No. GABF02, Act 1. The blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment airs in the show after the Super Bowl...
NEW 'GIRL' COMES TO LIFE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amANOTHER one of those beloved "American Girl" dolls is becoming a movie. The new film, still in the early stages of production, will feature Felicity - a free-spirited 9-year-old growing...
GRUNGEBOB - SPONGEBOB GAY? GIVE THIS SQUARE SOME ROUGH EDGES; SCRUB SPONGEBOB'S LESS-THAN-MACHO IMAGE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amLOSE the shorts and necktie. So say those who'd make SpongeBob SquarePants a manlier, more John Wayne kind of sponge. Their advice comes after James Dobson, president of the conservative...
STARR REPORT
January 25, 2005 | 5:00am'Boston' see party ABC's "Boston Legal" is making the most of a terrific opportunity - as the Sunday-night lead-out from "Desperate Housewives," the season's hottest new show. "Boston," the David...
STAR TO STAY ON RED CARPET
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amSTAR Jones has landed herself a permanent gig at E! as the cable channel's red carpet host for awards shows. As the new carpet-crawling diva, Jones will appear at this...
NEW NEIGHBOR
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amOPRAH is desperate to be a housewife. The queen of daytime TV has filmed a "Desperate Housewives" skit featuring the stars of ABC's new hit nighttime soap and written by...
'SIMPLE'-MINDED
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amYOU'D have to be a simpleton to think "The Simple Life," the Paris Hilton/Nicole Richie "reality" show, has anything to do with reality any longer. It's now as phony as...
MEET THE BAD TV PARENTS
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amWHEN it comes to parenting, everyone wants to be the best one possible. Unless they're on TV, in which case it's a carte blanche to be as dysfunctional as possible....
FOOD RULES: READ 'EM AND EAT
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amAmericans can't live by food pyramids alone. Which is why - as our national obesity rate continues to climb - the federal government recently issued new dietary guidelines to help...
FITTING FAREWELL - JAY LENO PAYS TRIBUTE TO CARSON
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amJay Leno paid a fond tribute to Johnny Carson last night, devoting his hourlong show to the legendary late-night talker, for whom he began guest-hosting in the 1980s before replacing...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amA Maine man dined at fine restaurants, then faked chest pains when the bill arrived to skip out on paying, police said. Elias I. Elias, 54, of Bangor, allegedly pulled...
TRANSIT DOT-COMPASS - NEW SITE LEADING THE WAY
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amIt's the MapQuest for bus and train riders. Straphangers trying to figure out which train to take and how to get somewhere will be able to access a new Web...
SLATER SAVED FROM SLASHER
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amA knife-wielding maniac attempted to stab Christian Slater as he left a London theater, but the actor escaped unharmed when his bodyguard jumped in front of the attacker, police said....
BREAKTHROUGHS - IN IRAQ, A BIG BUST & TERRORIST BLUSTER
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amIN just two days, Iraq took two giant steps forward. The forces of freedom in Baghdad announced the earlier bust of the al Qaeda killer behind the wave of suicide...
RFK JR. NIXES AG RACE: REPORT
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amRobert Kennedy Jr. has reportedly walked away from a run for state attorney general and a potential campaign against his estranged brother-in-law, Andrew Cuomo. Kennedy told The New York Times...
NICE CHEST-URE - HOT-DOG 'HOOKER': BOOBY PRIZE WAS FRANKLY JUST A SALES PERK
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amA Long Island woman busted for allegedly turning her hot-dog truck into a hooker wagon claims she was just trying to move more wieners when she offered to flash her...
FIELDS HAS CAMPAIGN VET FOR MAYOR BID
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amManhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields has quietly tapped a presidential campaign veteran for her mayoral run later this year, The Post has learned. Fields has hired Diane Feldman, who...
STADIUM APPROVAL PLAN IS A PROMISE-BREAKER
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe proposed West Side stadium will go before a state economic development board for approval this week without ever being considered by the City Council. This decision breaks a promise...
AMMON'S KIDS TO FACE PELOSI
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amTed Ammon's twin children will give victim-impact statements this morning when Danny Pelosi is sentenced on Long Island for the 2001 slaying of their father, sources said yesterday. The kids...
POL'S OWE WOE - JENNINGS' 38G HOLE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amEmbattled Councilman Allan Jennings' legal woes just keep mounting. The Queens Democrat - who's on trial by the council over sexual- harassment charges - will have to answer a lawsuit...
RAGING FIRE RAZES JOEL'S L.I. OFFICE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amBarely two days after Billy Joel was in Florida crooning at Donald Trump's wedding, his Long Island office was destroyed when a historic building went up in flames yesterday, authorities...
KEMP LETTER READS LIKE LOBBY FOR OIL SPY
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - A blistering letter written by former vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp to congressional leaders, criticizing the 1998 U.S. bombing of Iraq, has raised new questions about whether he was...
HILL'S FORMER MONEYMAN DENIES CAMPAIGN $CAM
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amLOS ANGELES - Sen. Hillary Clinton's former campaign finance director pleaded not guilty yesterday to federal charges he allegedly cooked fundraising books to net his boss extra loot. David Rosen,...
BUSH AND CHIRAC SET MAKEUP DATE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush plans to dine with French President Jacques Chirac, the chief opponent to the Iraq war, next month as he tries to mend fences in Europe. The...
TRAGIC PLEA FOR TRANSPLANT BABY
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amTime is quickly running out for Jordan Trimarchi, the newborn baby who is likely to die unless he receives a heart transplant in the next day or two. "We've been...
FDNY DISPATCHING TEAMS LACKING BEST EQUIPMENT
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amIN THE fog of tragedy, there is no way in hell to know if anyone or anything could have averted Black Sunday. But I do know one thing: if I...
BOMB MAKER NAILED - ZARQAWI AIDE CONFESSES TO 75% OF CAR EXPLOSIONS, SPILLS BEANS ON NETWORK
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amAl Qaeda's master bombmaker in Iraq is under arrest - and he is disclosing some secrets of the nearly 2-year-old guerrilla campaign, officials said yesterday. Abu Omar al-Kurdi was responsible...
PREZ BACKS RALLY VS. ABORTION
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - President Bush yesterday offered long-distance support to an anti-abortion march, with a telephone call to say that the movement for "a culture of life" is making progress and...
MINORITIES MOVE UP IN CUNY GRAD RATES
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe graduation rate for all minority students at City University has improved at more than twice the rate for whites in recent years - and the gap between blacks and...
ABUSE AID AT ALTAR - WEDDING 'GIFT' PLAN
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amHoneymooners shouldn't leave home without it - information about domestic violence. Under proposed legislation, happy couples that troop to the city clerk's office for marriage licenses may soon be walking...
TRIBUTE OF LIES AT U.N.
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amIT TOOK only 60 years. Sixty years after the world learned that bored Germans flung Jewish babies into the air for target practice at the Auschwitz death camp, our oily...
JOEL JABS OVER BOOZE ACCUSE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amDonald Trump's wedding reception featured plenty of bottles of red, bottles of white - but Billy Joel insists he didn't drink them. The Piano Man said he wasn't tipsy, as...
EGYPT GRUDGE EYED IN KILLINGS
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amInvestigators probing the slaughter of a family of devout Egyptian Christians believe they may have been victims of a bloody vendetta that predates their immigration to the United States 10...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amMANHATTAN * Cops are seeking the public's help in finding this man (above) - a bank robber who has pulled six heists at two locations since last April. The first...
DOT STAFF EYED IN H'WAY RIP-OFF
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - State workers helped a construction company rip New York off for more than $3 million during reconstruction of the West Side Highway, Comptroller Alan Hevesi charged yesterday. Hevesi...
'WRONG' SPERM RIGHT - FIANCÉ IS REAL DAD AFTER ALL
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe Connecticut woman who believed she was artificially inseminated with the wrong sperm gave birth to a child fathered by her fiancé after all, DNA tests show. Laura Howard, 40,...
MALCONTENT MOBSTER AXES ATTORNEY
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amA reputed Gambino hit man whacked his lawyer yesterday - in a legal sense, that is. Gambino soldier Thomas "Huck" Carbonaro sacked attorney Martin Geduldig after complaining that Geduldig wasn't...
SURVIVORS OF LEAP-FOR-LIFE BATTLING BACK
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amFour city firefighters who leaped from the fourth floor of a burning building in The Bronx Sunday were bravely battling a host of severe injuries yesterday as worried family and...
SEXY PLUMBER TAKES THRONE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThis blue-eyed blonde has every reason to be flush with pride - she's been named America's Sexiest Plumber. Lori "Chick" Sardinha-Costa beat out 12 hunky male plumbers to win the...
GIRL'S SNOW DEATH WAS ACCIDENT
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe death of a 10-year-old Brooklyn girl apparently killed by a city snowplow was ruled an accident by the medical examiner yesterday. Markita Weaver died of "blunt impact injuries," the...
B'KLYN FEDS SMASH BURMA 'DRUG ARMY'
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amFederal authorities in Brooklyn yesterday charged eight people with running a Burmese drug ring that uses a private army to distribute massive quantities of heroin and methamphetamine worldwide. The United...
CARDIAC DRIVER WAS FBI BIG
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe man who died of a heart attack in his car after shoveling it out of a snowdrift was a former FBI official who headed up its New York organized-crime...
B'KLYN GIRL IDS DAD AS KILLER
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amA brave 11-year-old girl took the witness stand yesterday to finger the man charged with choking the life out of her mother - her own father. "I saw him, my...
MIKE RIPS PATAKI'S BUDGET
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted Gov. Pataki's proposed budget, saying it doesn't give the city nearly enough money for schools, transportation and health care. On a trip to the...
CHARITY BOSS ADMITS THEFT
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe former head of the James Beard Foundation pleaded guilty yesterday to gorging himself on the food charity's cash. Leonard Pickell, 50, admitted to Justice James Yates that he spent...
DNA BAGS CHURCH-ROB SUSPECT
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amA Long Island man has been charged with burglarizing a church after a police DNA test linked him to the crime through blood he left at the scene. Nassau police...
'C' SICKNESS HITS RIDERS - * TRAIN DERAILED UP TO 5 YEARS * COPS HUNT HOMELESS FIREBUG
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amCall it C for "canceled." A fire in a subway control room has put the C line out of service for up to five years and caused serious problems on...
GOTTI G-MAN IN GAMBINO JURY POOL
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amIt was a nightmare come true for some reputed Gambino gangsters when they looked out on a room of prospective jurors yesterday - and found an FBI agent whose work...
HERO LT. SAVED PROBIE'S LIFE - DIED EVEN WHILE SPARING 9/11 BROTHER
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amA hero fire lieutenant saved the life of a probationary firefighter by ordering him to jump four stories from Sunday's Bronx inferno, officials said yesterday. Brendan Cawley had joined the...
HE PROMISED ME I'D NEVER BE A FIRE WIDOW
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amEileen Bellew never wanted to be a firefighter's widow, splashed on the front page of a newspaper with people feeling sorry for her. When her husband left his job on...
FAMILIES OF FALLEN COVERED BY FULL PENSIONS
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe families of the three firemen who died Sunday in the twin blazes will not have to be concerned about finances, according to fire officials. Under pensions due those who...
FATAL B'KLYN BLAZE IGNITED BY A HEATER
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe blaze that killed hero Brooklyn firefighter Richard Sclafani was caused by a space heater that ignited flammable material nearby, the FDNY said yesterday. Sclafani, 37, was trapped in the...
MAYOR TRIED TO BUY ME OFF, SAYS GOP CHALLENGER
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amA former Republican legislator who's looking to challenge Mayor Bloomberg claims Hizzoner's aides tried to buy him off with a six-figure job. "There's no question in my mind the offer...
JUDGE TAKES RAP FOR PRIVATE SENTENCING
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amA federal appeals court chastised a Manhattan judge yesterday for secretly sentencing a pair of convicted drug peddlers. The court said it was illegal for federal Judge Shirley Wohl Kram...
WEDDING SINGER JOEL: I WAS SOBER
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amDonald Trump's wedding reception featured plenty of bottles of red, bottles of white - but Billy Joel's rep insists the singer didn't drink them. Joel wasn't tipsy, as some guests...
MAYOR BLASTS PATAKI BUDGET
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Mayor Bloomberg yesterday ripped Gov. Pataki's proposed budget, saying it doesn't give the city nearly enough money for schools, transportation and health care. On a trip to the...
GOODFELLA AXES ATTORNEY
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amA reputed Gambino hit man whacked his lawyer yesterday - in a legal sense, that is. Gambino soldier Thomas "Huck" Carbonaro sacked attorney Martin Geduldig after complaining that Geduldig wasn't...
YOU CAN HELP COPS CATCH DUO
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amPolice asked for help yesterday finding the last two alleged members of a vicious gang responsible for a string of robberies and shootings in the city and Long Island. Earl...
'C' SICKNESS ON THE SUBWAY - RIDERS FACING UP TO FIVE YEARS OF MISERY AFTER FIRE KOS SERVICE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amCall it C for "canceled." A fire in a subway control room has put the C line out of service for up to five years and caused serious problems on...
'EROTIC' EVIDENCE VS. JACKO
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amLOS ANGELES - Prosecutors wants to use "erotic material" seized from Michael Jackson's home as evidence in his upcoming trial for child molestation, according to court papers released last night....
DOOMED MEN'S FINAL WORDS - 'WE CAN'T GET OUT! MAYDAY! MAYDAY!'
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amChilling audiotapes that captured two doomed firefighters' final moments in a Bronx inferno Sunday reveal desperate pleas for help as flames suddenly engulfed them. "We can't get out!" screamed one...
DOOMED MEN'S FINAL WORDS - TAPES BARE PANIC AFTER SUDDEN FIREBALL
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amChilling audiotapes that captured two doomed firefighters' final moments in a Bronx inferno Sunday reveal desperate pleas for help as flames suddenly engulfed them. "We can't get out!" screamed one...
NASA'S SMASHING GOOD TIME
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amWhat makes a comet tick? NASA wants to find out. Read about NASA's comet-busting mission. You've probably heard about comets. Of all the things in our solar system, comets are...
MARBURY DISPUTES 'LOSER' REP
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amSuccess seems to follow Stephon Marbury. As in, when Marbury is traded, his old team seems to enjoy a great deal more of it than when he played for it....
HOUSTON EYES FRIDAY RETURN VS. CAVS
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Allan Houston has missed the last two games with chronic left knee pain and will not play again tonight against the Suns, but the Knicks' co-captain is hoping...
GHOSTZAPPER OUTSHINES 'SMARTY'
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amThe "Smarty party" got zapped last night at the annual Eclipse Awards dinner, held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, when Breeders' Cup Classic winner Ghostzapper was named...
JACKSON WOULD LISTEN TO ISIAH
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amWhile Phil Jackson repeated he would "have to listen" to a Knicks offer, president Isiah Thomas said his next coach would not have to worry about input into personnel decisions....
VINCE MAKING 'O' GO
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amSACRAMENTO - The way the Nets see it, there are several options for Vince Carter. He can become a jump shooter. He can pout and stomp his feet until he...
DRONING HIS WAY TO IMMORTALITY
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amNONE of the champion Giants could have possibly envisioned this. None of them could have possibly predicted the tireless assistant coach with the monotone would ever reach Lombardian heights. Bill...
FOR OWNERS, THE PLOY'S THE THING
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amTHIS is about PR the same way the NHL's CBA website that's been operating for 11 months has been all about PR. This is about taking care of all of...
HE MAY SHEA GOODBYE - '05 COULD BE PIAZZA'S LAST AS MET
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amIf you need another reason to see the Mets in 2005, here's one: It might be Mike Piazza's final season in the majors. Piazza hasn't ruled out retirement when his...
THE NO-STAR SYSTEM - VICTORIES, NOT ACCOLADES, DRIVE PATRIOTS
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amPITTSBURGH - Last week, as the Patriots prepared for the AFC Championship victory that sent them to a third Super Bowl in four years, their former safety Lawyer Milloy, in...
EAGLE GROUNDED - TE LEWIS OUT WITH FOOT INJURY
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amChad Lewis' touchdown catch with 3:21 remaining in Sunday's NFC Championship Game allowed long-suffering Eagles fans to finally celebrate, to finally feel the warmth of a coveted victory on a...
JOHNNIES WARY OF DANGER 'ZONE'
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - There are few secrets in college basketball and almost none in conference play. Assistant coaches chat with fellow assistants. Beat reporters e-mail other teams' beat reporters. Players text...
CK'S MARTIN REBOUNDS, GETS GAME BACK IN GEAR
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amH.S. HOOPS Four years ago, Chris Martin was one of the most highly-touted eighth-graders in the city when he entered Christ the King. And after a stellar freshman season, the...
METS UP ANTE - OFFER DELGADO 4 YEARS, $51M
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amIf the Mets end up with Carlos Delgado, they may do it in spite of his agent David Sloane. Late yesterday afternoon, the Mets put their best offer on the...
SURGERY LIKELY FOR CHAD
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amPITTSBURGH - A day after widespread reports stated that Chad Pennington's right shoulder is in worse condition than originally diagnosed and that he'll have to have surgery on it as...
HE'S REAL BIG SHOT ON ORANGE
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amIt's missing the majesty of a skyhook. It will never have the novelty of an underhanded free throw. But Josh Pace's left-handed floater, by far his best offensive move, may...
LARRY FACES BUMPY RIDE OUT OF MOTOWN
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amFROM what I hear, the Knicks shouldn't count on Piston owner Bill Davidson allowing Larry Brown to work somewhere else in the NBA next season, regardless of how much his...
RUTGERS CRUSHER
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amRicky Shields left the Rutgers Athletic Center court with his face wrapped in his jersey. His Scarlet Knight teammates, one at a time, patted guard Quincy Douby on the back...
SUPER OR STUPOR? - EAGLES' TITLE HOPES HINGE ON TERRELL'S HEALTH
January 25, 2005 | 5:00amPHILADELPHIA - They were able to win the junior varsity portion of the NFL tournament without their most dynamic player, which only proved what we already knew: The Eagles were...